By Our Correspondent
The Nigerian Senate wants phone companies like MTN, Airtel and Glo to stop taking people’s airtime when calls fail or suddenly cut off.
The Nigerian Senate has told the telecom regulators NCC to look into how major mobile networks like MTN, Glo, Airtel and 9mobile charge their customers for airtime and data.
Lawmakers say operators have been charging customers for calls that fail or drop, and want airtime refunded automatically when calls don’t go through or service is interrupted.
The motion was moved by Senator Tahir Monguno.
The Senate also asked the Nigerian Communications Commission to set up an accessible complaints system for refunds, carry out independent audits of billing systems, and tighten enforcement of service quality standards.
Its committee on communications has been told to invite the NCC and the operators, assess subscribers’ losses and report back within four weeks.
The Senate said the deductions hit low income earners, traders and students hardest.
In other business, the Senate passed the National Senior Secondary Education Act (Amendment) Bill, 2026 for a third reading.
The bill aims to strengthen the governance of the National Senior Secondary Education Commission, improve coordination between federal and state governments, and make education policy easier to implement. Senator Orji Kalu presented the committee report
